May 06 14:05:40 109 PA - Gathering Gear and Introducing Folks

From Chronicles

May 06 14:05:40 109 PA.

UNCOMMON MECHANICS

The bay doors at Uncommon Mechanics are closed due to the incessant rain. There are a couple mechanics in the back bays but Tek is in the bay closest to the doors. Fresh coffee can be smelled as one enters the shop. When the loud sound of power tools and welders do not dominate elevator music can be heard in the background. Tek is mounting a large ram prow to the front of his Land Rover. And it looks as if all the other armor additions and such seem to have completed.

Gabriel stops to knock on the personnel door before entering, doing his best to stay out of the way of any mechanics running out of the building, having had too much and finally giving in to taking their own lives. Fortunately, none of those people appear, and he enters, rain sliding off of a long leather raincoat and leather fedora, a hat which is removed shortly after a real roof covers his head. Still, before entering further, he stops inside the small foyer, turning to look behind him, gesturing with one hand. "C'mon, this is the guy I think you should meet."

Erebos stands outside the door for a few moments in the rain before following the lead of the man he was following as he walked up to the building. He steps in through the doorway stopping just far enough in to be able to look around, "I am right behind you Gabriel I was just looking around as I have not been in a mechanic shop like this before." As he gets deeper into the building he stops to watch the new man mounting a ram on a rover.

Tek looks up as Gabriel enters and he waves, "Hey there Gabe. I see you got my message, give me a moment." after climbing down Tek moves over to a back shelf and gets a medium sized bag and carries it over to the pair and extends it to Gabe, "Here you go, sorry it took a bit longer than usual but I think you will be pleased." Looking Erebos up and down with a smile he adds, "Who did you bring with you here?" extending a hand in greeting, "Hey I'm Tek."

Gabriel accepts the container with some interest, peering in carefully but also like a kid at Christmas. "Oh! Thank you, Tek. This is how they should have built 'em in the first place." He reaches out to shake the man's hand as the bag is once more closed and cinched neatly to keep out any rain. "The rifle mags are taking a little longer, huh? I guess that makes sense, they're as unique as the twenty-twos. How's that scope coming?" Then, he steps aside for an introduction. "Tek, this is Eregon. Eregon, this is my friend Tek, whom I told you about. I think you two might have something in common, Tek. I could be wrong, but at least it might make for interesting dinner conversation."

Erebos returns the smile and extends his hand to shake Tek's "My name is Erebos, it is nice to meet you." He then nods as the introductions are made "Gabriel here was telling me that you can 'talk' to machines as well." He then looks at the work in progress "I however do not think I could do what you do here."

Tek nods to Gabriel, "I have just been so swamped of late I have to admit I missed them when I was working on those others so it was my fault. I should be able to get them to you here pretty soon though." And then looking to Erebos, "I can do more than talk with machines though I since I was a child I can't help but feel the machines around me all the time, it is not something I turn on and off is what I mean. Are you a mechanic?"

Although Gabriel decides to mostly stay out of the new introductions, he does ask quietly, "The optics? Does my design seem plausible?" Then adding with a happy smirk, "Maybe you can give *Erebos* here a job outside of a life of crime."

Erebos shakes his head "I am not a mechanic, I have been able to patch up my hover cycle when needed until I could get it to a mechanic though. I would not mind learning the skills of one since in my mind you can never learn too much." He then shrugs before looking at Gabriel "I did not know I was getting into a job within the life of crime when I consented to work security for Fizzlesnoot."

Tek starts to chuckle at the mention of Fizzlesnoot, "Fizz a criminal mastermind... Pfft yea right, you must be kidding." Then looking over to Gabe, "Well like I had explained I will not start on that project until I got some of these other jobs out of the way so I can focus on that completely. I have a feeling it is going to be a bit tricky but I am confident I will make you happy with it.

Gabriel nods as Tek explains, and he seems satisfied with it. But then his attention turns to the other man. "Working security? Honorable. But you must understand that the Ivory Lady - or apparently he's calling it the Lady Luck now - is owned by a very powerful gang called the Family. Fizzlesnoot just manages it. They're magic of some kind, and exceptionally powerful." Gabriel taps his temple. "Unless you want the long version, just trust me on this, that I do know very well what I'm talking about. Fizzlesnoot's a good guy. But by running the club, he's making money for organized crime. By making money for organized crime? He is, in the end, making himself and anyone who works for him, a de facto criminal." The older man shrugs. "That's all I'm saying. It seems, on the surface, that making money to do good is working inside the system, but in reality, the system is making so much more money than you, that your own efforts become largely irrelevant. That's why I declined their offer to run the place after I cleaned it out."

The bay doors are closed due to the rain but the shop is busy. Several mechanics are working on several things in the back bays. Tek, Gabe and Erebos are standing next to a Land Rover that is having a ram prow mounted to it. Fresh coffee can be smelled.

Erebos considers Gabriel's words for a moment then comments "I would not see it as being a de facto criminal and working as security is a lot less on the far side of the law then some of the work I have done in the past." He shrugs again "That said it is a job and a place to live for now, I have spent enough of my life in places like the Dregs here and I do not want to spend much more there." Looking toward Tek he states "Gabriel had suggested I come here and ask about a job, but seeing what you do here I don't think I could do a good enough job to be paid for it any more then the training I would need."

Tek just shrugs with a smile in regards to the Family and the degrees of criminal activity. "Well I will be taking a trip to Arcadia here soon and could use some muscle. What can you do besides telemechanics?"

Gabriel shrugs it aside, his peace having been said. Almost. "Do not underestimate the strength of offers that you can't refuse," is said quietly into the ether.

Erebos nods "I have been on a few trips with the odd Merc squad but as of yet have not seen a lot of combat. The older mercs tried to shelter me from that which may lead to death. I do however have some ability to move things without touching them and I am able to wrap myself in a shield of energy that can stop some energy blasts. That along with the ability to read people to tell if they are magic or psionic and to tell if psionic abilities are being used." He looks to Gabriel for a moment then back "That is why Fizzlesnoot offered me the job, a watch guard against people cheating."

Tek nods and smiles, "Can you tell what a person is weak against or anything like that? Also what piloting and or navigation skills do you have?"

Gabriel gives Erebos a quick smile. "Yes, I know, I was there." Otherwise, he remains quiet, his own thoughts to himself as he starts to wander off to inspect safe parts of the shop.

Carmelita comes in out of the rain and looks like she's been out in it for awhile. She's more worried about the digital camera in her hands than being wet, though. It gets a little shake just in case that will fix it. After that, she looks around at people working on vehicles and things. "Does anyone know to fix a camera?"

Erebos shrugs "I cannot say I can judge another's weakness I have been able to pick out the target of lesser experience in the past allowing those more capable to go after the ones with more." He pauses a moment as the woman enters to give her an once over before continuing "I can pilot my hover-cycle without much difficulty and I have some basic abilities in piloting helicopters."

Tek nods to Erebos, "Well I will keep you in mind as jobs come up." And then as Carmelita comes in he starts to chuckles as he starts heading over towards her, "Well let me take a look see. What happened?" he extends a hand for the camera.

Gabriel keeps a polite distance. He needs to stay within earshot, but only of necessity to know when he can come back. And come back he does, reaching to pat Erebos on the shoulder. "Work is work. But particularly when starting a new life, try to make sure that people truly know where any of your ethics might lay. I'm not judging it. Just saying it." A nod is given, and he turns to the cat woman with the wings. As Tek moves over toward her - and Gabriel himself has no idea how to fix a camera - he asks Erebos, "Ever seen one of those?"

"It does not work anymore. Battery is not low and it is waterproof." Carmelita growls out some of the words in her annoyance. "Gracias. Thank you." She hands the camera to Tek for him to look at.

Erebos nods and states "Thank you Tek any work that I can do I am willing to do." He then looks at Gabriel as the other man pats him on the shoulder "I understand where you are coming from, and no I have not seen one of those up close. In the warrens if someone got a hold of a camera like that it would have been sold almost immediately."

Tek closes his eyes and concentrates on the camera for a moment before looking up and nodding, "It looks like one of the gears slipped, maybe it got jarred or a manufacturer's flaw. Let me get a couple tools, it should only take a moment. How have you found Kingsdale since you have been here?"

The oldest man in the room laughs. "No, no. I meant, have you seen one of *those* before?" He points gently in the cat woman's direction. "I've never even heard about something like that in fairy tales." Gabriel takes a few tentative steps toward Tek and the 'woman', but otherwise allows a polite distance, not wanting to intrude on the man's business.

Carmelita looks over to the old, laughing man. "Some have seen me before. Some have not. Is something wrong?" She's glad that her camera should be easily fixed, but now she's wondering what the human finds so funny.

Erebos shrugs at the laughter "Where I grew up I saw many who would be considered right out of the old fairy tails. I have learned that we are all people no matter how we look, and for the most part we all die the same as well." He looks again at the woman and her camera "I hope that I do not offend you with my remarks I can be very blunt some times."

Tek gets a small tool kit and sets it next to the camera before starting to take it apart. He does seem to listen in as the others talk but for now he seems to be consumed with fixing the camera.

"I'm sorry," Gabriel says to the cat woman with a smile yet dipping his head as well. "I don't find you funny, I find my friend's misunderstanding of what I *asked* him, funny. I meant no disrespect, I assure you. However, no, I have never seen anyone like yourself, and I'm rather out of place with seeing anything like you, or many people here, so please forgive my response."

"Is Ok," Carmelita smiles; it's friendly even if it shows some teeth. "Not many see me or my kind here. Omagua is far south from Kingsdale."

Erebos smiles as well. "Sorry I tend to focus on the task on hand," He says to Gabriel, "In this case it was the camera that got my focus." He then looks at the cat woman "You are a beautiful woman and if you are representative of your people you are a beautiful race." He shrugs for a moment "But enough of my youthful rambling, My name is Erebos." He says then offers a hand in greeting.

Tek has the camera apart and is already putting it all back together, "And just a couple more... yep there you go all done. Should work like new now." walking over with a smile Tek passes the camera back to Carmelita.

Gabriel watches the other two men, then simply nods and purses his lips happily in introduction. "Gabriel. You're.. a photographer? Perhaps a journalist?" He shifts a leather fedora from one arm to the other, as the rainwater has all slid off by now and onto the greasy floor. A greasy floor that responds well to the mix of oil and water.

Carmelita takes the camera back and quickly presses a few buttons, watching the results on the small display screen. "Gracias! Thank you. How much for the fix?" She's thrilled at Tek's work and almost ignores Gabriel and Erebos. Almost. "I am Carmelita. Yes, I like to take the pictures. Thank you, Erebos." She doesn't blush, but she does smile even more.

Erebos smiles a bit wider as Carmelita's smile grows. "It is nothing miss I merely speak the truth as I see it." He then looks at the other two before looking outside for a moment. "It seems it may be getting on to the time where I should be heading back over to the Lady to start my first night on the job. It was nice meeting you Tek and Carmelita and nice talking with you again Gabriel."

Tek smiles and nods to Erebos, "It was a pleasure. I will get a hold of you over at... ummm what did you say... The Lady Luck. Then looking over to Carmelita with a mischievous smile, "Hmmm I am not sure you can afford such quality work my dear." His cheeks flush slightly as he is talking to her. Pointing to his cheek he continues, "How about a kiss?"

"Good to see you, Erebos. Good luck with the job," Gabriel says to the departing man. Tek gets a grin, one that the older fellow hides by looking down and slightly away. He might be out of words for now anyway, wondering how to compliment a woman on her pelt. There's a sigh which comes next, and he glances to his watch, perhaps wondering if he should be going as well, or if waiting to see what happens would be more entertaining.

Carmelita blinks at Tek, right before letting out a kind of amused purring noise. "Anything for the one who fix my camera." She leans down to give his red cheek a nuzzle and lap with her rough tongue. When she straightens up she's smiling again.

Erebos nods once in farewell then heads out the door, his almost dry clothing soaking through in moments in the downpour.

Tek smiles and gives Carmelita a wink, "It was my pleasure. So tell me how have you liked our fair city so far?"

The amusing awkwardness over, Gabriel ambles toward the two. "Hello, Carmelita. That's a lovely name." An eyebrow pops up. "Spanish? You're not from a Madrid that I know, but maybe it would be today?" The questions are asked happily, as he integrates himself into the conversation. "It's nice to see someone with a peaceful profession."

"It is still new," she answers Tek and nods to Gabriel. "Spanish, si. I am from Omagua, not a Madrid. It is south over the water, past Columbia and the Amazon."

Tek nods as Carmelita answers him, "Well I am glad you came by, it is really nice seeing you again. Ohh and please come by any time, would you like some coffee or a soda or anything?" Tek seems a bit awkward as he tries offing a beverage to his newest guest.

Gabriel nods his head, noting the different places of Columbia and the Amazon rather easily. "So Omagua must be in Argentina, then? Or perhaps Bolivia or Paraguay if you took to the mountains?" He extends a hand, explaining, "I assume that it's not Brazil, or you'd be speaking Portuguese." He stands aside and allows Tek to trip and tumble over young hormones.

Carmelita shakes her head. "Omagua is south of the Amazon, not in the mountains." Tek gets another smile and another shake. "Thank you, no. I am not thirsty and have too much water." Her fur is still dripping and she spreads her arms to help open her wing flaps. More air will help them to dry a little faster.

Gabriel moves toward the door, donning his leather raincoat and fedora. "I'm sorry, Carmelita, I'd love to stay and talk - I haven't met anyone from South America before now. Love to hear what's happened to it. However," he says, looking between Tek and the feline woman, "I have an appointment. A possible hire. Please excuse me, I'll happily see you later, both of you." He tosses off a non-salute, and is then quickly out the door.